Born December 29, 1958, in Wilmington, Delaware, but considers Troy, Ohio, to be her hometown. Married to David W. Currie (CW5, USA) of Hookstown, Pennsylvania. One daughter. She enjoys running, swimming, triathlons, weight lifting, skiing, and scuba diving. Her parents, Warren & Shirley Decker, reside in Troy. His mother, Mrs. Delores Simmons, resides in Freedom, Pennsylvania. His father, Mr. Lee Currie, is deceased.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Troy High School, Troy, Ohio, in 1977; received a bachelor of arts degree in biological science from Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, in 1980, a master of science degree in safety engineering from the University of Southern California in 1985, and a doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Houston in 1997.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of Army Aviation Association of America, Phi Kappa Phi, Ohio State University and ROTC Alumni Associations, Institute of Industrial Engineers, and Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Following graduation, Nancy served as a neuropathology research assistant at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in July 1981, and attended the Air Defense Officer Basic Course and the United States Army Aviation School. Following flight training she was assigned to Fort Rucker, Alabama as a helicopter instructor pilot. She also served as a section leader, platoon leader, and brigade flight standardization officer for all phases of rotary wing flight, including combat skills and night vision goggle operations. Prior to her assignment at NASA she completed the Aviation Officer Advanced Course, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, and the Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Qualification Course. A senior army aviator, she has logged 3,500 flying hours in a variety of rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Assigned to NASA Johnson Space Center in September 1987 as a flight simulation engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft, a complex airborne simulator which models flight characteristics of the Orbiter. Selected by NASA in January 1990, she became an astronaut in July 1991. Nancy has held various technical assignments within the Astronaut Office including: flight crew representative for crew equipment; Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS); spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) providing a communications interface between ground controllers and flight crews. A veteran of two space flights, she has logged over 454 hours in space. She was a mission specialist on STS-57 in 1993, and STS-70 in 1995.

STS-57 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 21, 1993, and returned there on July 1, 1993. The primary objective of this flight was the retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier satellite (EURECA) using the RMS. Additionally, this mission featured the first flight of Spacehab, a commercially-provided middeck augmentation module for the conduct of microgravity experiments, as well as a spacewalk by two crew members, which also involved the use of the Shuttle's robotic arm. Spacehab carried 22 individual flight experiments in materials and life sciences research. STS-57 was accomplished in 155 orbits of the Earth in 239 hours.

STS-70 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 13, 1995, and returned there July 22, 1995. The five-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery deployed the final NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to complete the constellation of NASA's orbiting communication satellite system. The crew also conducted a myriad of biomedical and remote sensing experiments. During this 8 day 22 hour mission, the crew completed 142 orbits of the Earth, traveling 3.7 million miles. STS-70 was the first mission controlled from NASA's new combined control center.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:

Nancy Currie will serve on the crew of STS-88, the first Space Shuttle mission to carry hardware to space for the assembly of the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for July 1998.

NASA Group 13 - 1990 Requirement: pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights. Nickname: The Hairballs. As the 13th astronaut group, the 'unlucky' theme was discussed in designing an emblem for the group. A black cat was used on an early patch design rejected by NASA. This reminded some of hairballs and the group members adopted this as a nickname. More...

US Army American agency overseeing development of spacecraft. US Army, USA. More...

Associated Programs

ISS Finally completed in 2010 after a torturous 25-year development and production process, the International Space Station was originally conceived as the staging post for manned exploration of the solar systrem. Instead, it was seemed to be the death knell of manned spaceflight. More...

STS The Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle) was conceived originally as a completely reusable system that would provide cheap, routine access to space and replace all American and civilian military launch vehicles. Crippled by technological overreach, political compromise, and budget limitations, it instead ended up costing more than the expendable rockets it was to have replaced. STS sucked the money out of all other NASA projects for half a century. The military abandoned its use after the Challenger shuttle explosion in the 1980's. More...

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989.

ISS Status Report 1 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Currie; Newman; Ross. Program: ISS. With the first component of the International Space Station encapsulated in its nose fairing, a 180-foot long Russian Proton rocket was transported to its launch pad at dawn today at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan in preparation for liftoff Friday to begin assembly of the new complex. Additional Details: here....

1998 November 20 - .

ISS Status Report 3 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Currie. Program: ISS. Under overcast skies from a launch pad not far from where Yuri Gagarin became the first human to be launched into space, a spacecraft named Zarya, the Russian word for sunrise, rocketed into orbit today to usher in the era of the International Space Station. Additional Details: here....

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 04 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. STS-88 Commander Bob Cabana and his crew received their first wake up call from Mission Control this afternoon at 3:36 p.m. CST to begin their first full day of on orbit activities. The crew were awakened with the song "Get Ready" by the Temptations, an appropriate description of the full slate of activities the crew will be involved with as they get ready for the important events of the flight by checking out the equipment and tools that will be utilized during rendezvous, docking and space walking activities. Additional Details: here....

1998 December 4 - .

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 03 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Endeavour's six astronauts wrapped up their first day in space a bit later than planned, at approximately 8:21 a.m. Central time today, when they began an abbreviated sleep period. Crew members were trouble-shooting a minor problem with the Orbiter Communications Adapter (OCA) system, which is used to transmit software files between the Space Shuttle and the flight controllers on the ground. A wake-up call from Mission Control is planned for 3:36 p.m. Central time, for the crew to begin their first full day of on-orbit activities. Additional Details: here....

1998 December 4 - .

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 02 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Five Americans and one Russian set off to begin building the International Space Station at 2:36 a.m. CST today, launching from Kennedy Space Center with the first American-built component of the station -- a connecting module named Unity -- in the Space Shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay. The shuttle's climb to orbit was flawless. Additional Details: here....

On December 5 at 22:25 GMT Nancy Currie unberthed the Unity space station node from the payload bay using the RMS arm. She then moved the Unity to a position docked to the Orbiter Docking System in the payload bay in readiness for assembly with the Russian-launched Zarya FGB ISS component. After rendezvous with the Zarya FGB module, on December 6 at 23:47 GMT Endeavour grappled Zarya with the robot arm, and at 02:07 GMT on December 7 it was soft docked to the PMA-1 port on Unity. After some problems hard dock was achieved at 02:48 GMT. Unity and Zarya then formed the core of the future International Space Station. Ross and Newman made three space walks to connect cables between Zarya and Unity, on December 7, 9 and 12. On the last EVA a canvas tool bag was attached to the exterior of Unity to provide tools for future station assembly workers. Docking cables were disconnected to prevent Unity and Zarya from inadvertently undocking. Following an internal examination of the embryonic space station, Endeavour undocked at 20:30 GMT on December 13. The SAC-A and Mightysat satellites were ejected from the payload bay on December 14 and 15. Deorbit burn was December 16 at 03:48 GMT, and Endeavour landed at 04:53:29 GMT, on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center.

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 05 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Summary: Endeavour's astronauts began an eight-hour sleep period at 5:36 a.m. Central time following a full night of activity in which they checked out equipment that will be used in the assembly of the first two components of the International Space Station.. Additional Details: here....

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 12 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. At the request of Commander Bob Cabana, Mission Control delayed Endeavour's wake-up call by one-half hour today, waking the crew at 12:06 p.m. CST, after the astronauts remained up past their scheduled sleep time to enjoy the view and relax following a very busy and successful day yesterday. The crew was awakened by Dwight Yokum's "Streets of Bakersfield," requested by the wife of Pilot Rick Sturckow, a California native. Additional Details: here....

1998 December 8 - .

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 11 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. The first U.S. segment of the International Space Station came to life Monday night as the Unity module was activated for the first time. Activation followed the connection of electrical and data cables by Astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman during a 7-hour, 21-minute space walk. Additional Details: here....

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 18 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Endeavour's crew was awakened at 10:36 a.m. CST today to continue their work of preparing the International Space Station for future crews. "Trepak," a Russian dance from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" ballet, was played as the wake-up music in honor of cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Sergei Krikalev. Additional Details: here....

1998 December 10 - .

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 16 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Husband; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Endeavour's six astronauts awoke at 10:41 a.m. CST today and are preparing for a historic day - entry into the International Space Station for the first time. The crew was awakened to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," played for Mission Specialist-2, Nancy Currie at the request of her husband, David. Additional Details: here....

1998 December 11 - .

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 17 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Gidzenko; Newman; Ross; Shepherd; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Endeavour's astronauts opened the new International Space Station for business Thursday, entering the Unity and Zarya modules for the first time and establishing an S-band communications system that will enable U.S. flight controllers to monitor the outpost's systems. Additional Details: here....

STS-88 Mission Status Report # 26 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cabana; Currie; Newman; Ross; Sturckow. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-88. Endeavour's astronauts awoke to the sounds of Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" today, and are now preparing for a return trip to Earth. The wake-up call came at 11:36 a.m. CST, and was chosen by the flight control team to energize the six crew members in anticipation of tonight's landing in Florida, marking the 10th nighttime Shuttle landing in the program's history. Additional Details: here....

STS-109 Mission Status Report #03 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Altman; Carey; Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. The crew of Columbia was awakened for its first full day in space at 8:22 p.m. CST with the song "Blue Telescope" by John Hiatt. In its morning mail, the crew received news that mission managers are optimistic the full mission will go forward as planned in spite of low flow in a shuttle cooling line. Additional Details: here....

In the course of five spacewalks, the crew installed new equipment on HST. This was the first flight of Columbia since the launch of Chandra in 1999 following refurbishment. In the first two spacewalks, two new solar arrays were installed, and the two old arrays stowed on the RAC carrier. The RWA-1R reaction wheel assembly on the MULE carrier replaced the faltering RWA-1 in the telescope. The third spacewalk was the most difficult, as HST was entirely powered down while astronauts replaced its power controller unit, not designed for on-orbit replacement. On the fourth spacewalk the astronauts removed the European FOC camera, aboard HST since launch in 1990, and replaced it with the new ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys). They also installed the CASH wire harness, part of the aft shroud cooling system. On the final spacewalk, the astronauts installed the NCS (NICMOS cooling system) cryocooler in the aft shround and the associated NCS radiator on the telescope's exterior. The NICMOS infrared camera had been idle since its original thermal control system failed. With the removal of FOC, the COSTAR device (which deployed contact lenses for the original instruments) became obsolete, since the newer instruments made the corrections to the incorrect HST mirror internally. Cargo manifest:

Bay 7-8: SAC (Second Axial Carrier) - 2517 kg. The SAC was a specially designed pallet that flew on the first two Hubble SM flights, STS-61 and STS-82. On this flight it carried the ACS camera up (and the FOS camera down) as well as the NCS cryocooler, the PCU-R power controller, the CASH wire harness, and the thermal covers used in the PCU replacement.

Bay 11: FSS (Flight Support System) - 2111 kg. The FSS first flew on STS 41-C (the Solar Max Repair) and was reused for each of the HST SM flights. It carried the BAPS Berthing and Positioning System, which was the docking ring for HST. Stowed on the FSS were a support post for BAPS and a cover for the HST low gain antenna.

Bay 12: MULE (Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier) - 1409 kg. The MULE carried the NCS radiator, the NCS electronics support module, and the RWA-1R reaction wheel unit. MULE first flew on STS-48 carrying the UARS satellite, and then on STS-95 carrying the HOST payload which tested out the NCS.

STS-109 Mission Status Report #07 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Altman; Carey; Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. The crew of the space shuttle Columbia awoke for its first spacewalking day in orbit to "Five Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," performed by Jeno Jando. It was played for John Grunsfeld. Spacewalkers Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan will step out into space for the first time during this mission at about 12:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. Additional Details: here....

2002 March 4 - .

STS-109 Mission Status Report #09 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Altman; Carey; Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. Rested and ready for another day of spacewalking, the crew of the space shuttle Columbia was awakened at 7:53 p.m. by the children's song "Floating in the Bathtub," by Tonya Evetts Weimer. It was played for Jim Newman who is to step out into space for the second spacewalk of this mission at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Additional Details: here....

STS-109 Mission Status Report #12 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. The Hubble Space Telescope received a new "heart" today during a 6 hour, 48 minute spacewalk by astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan. The two installed a new Power Control Unit (PCU), replacing the original unit launched with the telescope in April 1990. The PCU serves as Hubble's central power switching station by distributing electricity to all systems, scientific instruments and the Nickel Hydrogen batteries. Additional Details: here....

STS-109 Mission Status Report #15 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Altman; Carey; Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. The crew of the space shuttle Columbia will give Hubble a way to open one of its slumbering eyes during the fifth and final scheduled spacewalk of this mission. An experimental cooling system will be installed on a camera that has been dormant since 1999 in hopes of bringing it back to life. Additional Details: here....

2002 March 8 - .

STS-109 Mission Status Report #16 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Altman; Carey; Currie; Grunsfeld; Linnehan; Massimino; Newman. Program: ISS. Flight: ISS EO-4; STS-109. TThe crew of the space shuttle Columbia completed the last of its five ambitious spacewalks this morning with the successful installation of an experimental cooling system for Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). The NICMOS has been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. Additional Details: here....